The Rangers and Dundee United managers insisted the official was right to blow the whistle on things at half-time Ð with the Light Blues winning 1-0 through a Steven Davis goal.

Both admitted the water-logged pitch made conditions farcical and that there was a real danger of one of their players could suffer a serious injury.

Smith said: "I thought there was a possibility it would be called off when I was watching the first half from the stand.

"The water was starting to gather and I thought it would be a decision the referee would have to make. I don't think we could complain although we are disappointed after working so hard to go 1-0 up.

"I can't argue with the referee because I think he was quite right.

"It is just one of those circumstances that happens and while I think he was right to abandon the game I also think he was right to play the game. "It would not have been justifiable to put it off at the start. I think the referee handled the game well considering the circumstances.

"I can understand the fans frustration because we are frustrated ourselves. I'm sure the referee is frustrated as well.

Levein was frustrated by the call-off, even though it was the right one, because he felt his side were playing well enough to take something from the game.

The United boss said: "I'm disappointed, not in the decision because I think that was correct. The rain's not going off.But I'm disappointed because it's not often that the manager of the losing team is going to be happy with a game being abandoned.

"The players were gutted too because today I felt they were on top of their game - and they felt they could've won the game in the second half.

Match official Tumilty insisted he was left with no option and defended his decision to start the game although admitted the driving rain made it impossible to continue.

Tumilty said: "You could see as the first half went on the rain was getting a lot heavier.At the start of the game there was a little bit of water on the pitch but I was hoping it would disappear when players ran over the top of it.

"As the rain got heavier the water was holding the ball up.

"From my own point of view I was concerned players could get injured.You can't wait until somebody does get injured before you call off the game. You need to be pro-active and to prevent players from getting injured.

"The other thing that I was concerned about was the game becoming farcical.